An adventure in the final stretch of the Pass of de Pyrenees

From the 11th to the 14th of October a group of 70 people from the Vallecas district of Madrid were in Andorra to visit the Virgin of Meritxell, patron saint of Andorra. The group was made up of several families with their children, who have a relationship with the Tajamar school.

They took advantage of these days to take a tour of the places where St Josemaria was in 1937. On the last day they dared to climb the dreaded Cabra Morta ravine and reach Sant Julià de Lòria on foot.

Daniel Gutiérrez, organizer of this route, tells us about the adventure that began in the river Civís and ended in the church of Sant Julià de Lòria. He writes:

The trip was perfect.

The stage we made from the river Civís was great. We were very lucky with the weather, because it was a sunny day with no heat.

The best thing was that in the bus trip from the hotel to the river Civís, at the foot of the ‘Barranc de la Cabra Morta’, we were reading some notes from the book “Camino de Liberación”, by Jordi Piferrer. When reading the Diary written this day by Juan Jiménez Vargas, he tells us that in the stretch we were going to relive, he makes such a spooky description of the Cabra Morta ravine and the hardships they suffered that some of them began to have a bad body. It should be borne in mind that none of us had done the excursion before and we embarked on the adventure about 55, among them, many mothers and fathers of a certain age and children, boys and girls, some of 7 or 8 years.

Among other shocking things in Juan Jiménez Vargas’s story are the term “vertical” that he uses; that they didn’t have in any step just space to put a foot; that the ascent was such that the companion behind you was always under your feet; and that the guides saw the circumstance of the night as an advantage, because during the day many would not have dared to climb the precipice.

With such an aperitif, the bus went through a small road, looking for the point that I marked the night before in google maps. We saw a yellow and blue sign and got off. A little blindly we turned in one direction and another, although I saw the wall and it was clear that we had to cross the river to that wall. And immediately we saw the way.

Everything was perfectly indicated. You can see that the race of the “Rosa del Nord” is coming, because we also saw the reflective strips for orientation at night.

And the ascent was very, very nice. Because even if you climb a lot, and some of them, I was going at a slower pace, at least I never felt dizzy. Yes, you have to be calm and warned not to fall or fall into a bad step. When we got to the top, everyone was exultant. We took a photo, which I attach to this chronicle, although half of the staff is missing (the young people, who shot with the adrenaline rush they had on top). The second climb, towards Mas d’Alins, cost us more. And the long descent, to Sant Julià de Lòria, became more tedious, but although we offered vans for anyone who wanted to, only a few climbed. The rest, walking to the end.

The Mass at 7:30 p.m. was the highlight of the day.

We’ll be back next year to do more sections of the Pass of the Pyrenees!